The Himachal Pradesh assembly elections will be held on November 9 and counting of votes will take place on December 18, the Election Commision announced on Thursday.

The Himachal Pradesh assembly elections will be held on November 9 and counting of votes will take place on December 18, the Election Commision announced on Thursday.

A three-member Election Commission headed by Chief Election Commissioner AK Jyoti while addressing a press conference said the VVPAT enabled EVMs will be used in Himachal Pradesh polls.

It is the first times that VVPAT machines will be used in a state assembly elections, the step was taken by the election commision after the uproar by Opposition parties over the alleged use of faulty EVMs in Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.

The last date for filing nominations will be October 23 while the scrutiny and withdrawal of nominations will be allowed till October 24.

With the announcement of dates and schedule of the assembly polls, the model code of conduct also came into effect in Himachal Pradesh from Thursday itself.

The Election Commission will also post an expenditure observers to monitor election expenses during Himachal Pradesh polls, each candidate will be allowed to spend Rs 28 Lakh for his campaign.

However, the commission didn't announce the dates for Gujarat assembly polls but the election in PM Modi's home state shall be held prior to 18 December, which will enable simultaneous counting of votes in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat.

The legislative assembly tenures of Gujarat and Himachal shall end in January 2018. While the term of the 182-member Gujarat Assembly ends on January 22, the term of the 68-member HP Assembly ends on January 7.

The election campaign in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh have already begun with both BJP and Congress indulging in a war of words. BJP launched its election campaign in Gujarat with "Gaurav Yatra" while Congress took on the ruling party with its "Navsarjan Yatra".